USA
Healthcare Laundry Accreditation Council (HLAC) accredited laundries, past president Gregory Gicewicz and current president Bradley J. Bushman were welcome contributors to a well-attended and impressive educational conference put together by the Association of Linen Management (ALM) held in Savannah, Georgia.
HLAC is a nonprofit organisation that inspects and accredits laundries processing textiles for hospitals, nursing homes and other healthcare facilities.
Multiple speakers touched on fundamental aspects of the HLAC's accreditation process. Keynote speaker David Bernstein, president, Lapauw USA, identified the importance of accreditation but expressed concerns with the current state of affairs with competing accreditation processes.
Gregory Gicewicz, HLAC inspection committee chair, presented practical insights into attaining HLAC accreditation and Dr. Elizabeth Easter of the University of Kentucky provided a straightforward understanding of the terms of cleaning, sanitisation and disinfection including the condition of being hygienic.
Gicewicz indicated that process monitoring can be a key tool toward accomplishing process improvements and best practices, but facilities need to think beyond chemical titrations to include other aspects related to textile hygiene. Gicewicz provided various examples of how alternative pathways to address accreditation requirements in a practical and cost-effective manner can be accomplished.
HLAC board president Bradley J. Bushman was on hand to meet current and interested textile service providers and laundries. "It is good to see the value of HLAC accreditation being recognised by professionals from across the breadth of our industry and the level of their engagement and desire to elevate best practices." He expressed the unwavering commitment of the HLAC board towards assisting operators in achieving accreditation and the associated best practices for cleaning and infection prevention. “The problem I see is that the textile service providers do not have the tools they need in their infection prevention tool box.” Bushman said it will take strong leadership and direction to fill this gap.
